The James Madison women’s soccer team had its three-match winning streak come to an end Sunday afternoon in a 1-0 loss to Delaware at Grant Stadium in Colonial Athletic Association play.
With the loss, JMU drops to 10-7 overall and 5-2 in CAA play. The Blue Hens moved to 3-3-1 in conference action and 7-8-1 overall.
Playing through a consistent, driving wind with gusts up to 20 miles per hour, JMU used the elements to its advantage in the first half and dominated play, but had nothing to show for it while going into the halftime break scoreless.
After switching sides out of halftime, Delaware took advantage of the wind being at its back and got on the board 11 minutes into the frame on a goal from Rachel Vaccaro in the 56th minute. Vaccaro took a nice through-ball from Elise Krause at the top of the penalty area that split the JMU defense up the middle and tapped her shot past redshirt-senior goalkeeper Kate Courter (Lincoln Park, N.J./Immaculate Heart) to put the Blue Hens up 1-0.
Looking for the equalizer throughout the remaining 34 minutes, JMU had a couple chances at goal but nothing significant until the final minutes of the game.
With 12 minutes to play, JMU was awarded a free kick 10 yards from the top of the penalty area. Redshirt-senior Sam Lofton (Lock Haven, Pa./Central Mountain) tapped the ball to the right and sophomore forward Ashley Herndon (Ashburn, Va./Stone Bridge) fired her shot at goal, but the shot was blocked by Vaccaro in the wall and cleared out to keep the Blue Hens up 1-0.
JMU’s best chance to score the equalizer came with three minutes to go when freshman forwardKatherine Bukovsky (Centreville, Va./Westfield) received a cross in front of goal. Looking for her second goal of the season, her shot sailed high of goal and out of play.
The Dukes outshot Delaware 12-7 in the match and finished with a 5-3 advantage in shots on goal, but the Blue Hens defense held strong to record their fourth shutout of the year. The shutout loss marks the fifth time JMU has been held off the scoreboard this season. The Dukes have been shut out in both losses in conference action this year.
Entering play Sunday, JMU was tied with Northeastern for first place with both teams owning 5-1 marks in conference play. After being tied at halftime with College of Charleston, the Huskies scored three second-half goals to move to 6-1 in CAA play and take first place in the conference with two matches to play.
JMU returns to action Friday night, Oct. 24, at University Park against William & Mary. Prior to the game, JMU will recognize the 29 players named to the 25th Anniversary team prior to the season. First kick is set for 7 p.m.against the Tribe. William & Mary is the only team the Dukes have played in each of their 25 years of competition dating back to 1990.
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Chris Graham
